Pharmacy Daily | Hands off community pharmacists

BRITISH Health Minister, Will Quince, is being urged to halt the recruitment of pharmacists to work in general practice settings, to ensure community pharmacies retain adequate staffing levels.

Speaking at an industry event over the weekend, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) CEO, Janet Morrison, who leads the sector's contract talks with the British Government, told delegates that she had raised concerns about the growing number of pharmacists being diverted into the GP setting with the newly installed minister, the Pharmaceutical Journal reported.

"One of the things I clearly said to Will Quince when I met him was, 'you have to stop recruiting clinical pharmacists into primary care'," Morrison said.

"It doesn't make sense.

"Clinical pharmacists can add more value keeping community pharmacies open, delivering on medicines safety, really effective prescribing, delivering services, giving advice, being open so many hours of the day and being relied on by the public.

"I'm not saying they shouldn't work there [in general practice]; I'm saying they should stop continued recruitment.

"If you want integration and multidisciplinary teams, which completely makes sense, then actually use the resources that are already there."

Primary Care Pharmacy Association President, Graham Stretch, said that rather than stopping the recruitment of GP pharmacists, the profession needed to make sure that community pharmacy is not left behind.

"The idea that somehow everybody moved from community to GP is just plain wrong," he said.

"Yes, it's part of the problem, but it's not the biggest problem.

"The biggest problem comes down to you as a working professional looking for satisfaction.

"That's a multifaceted thing, that's not just money, that's not just training, it's flexibility, value and actually time to try something new and you can't argue against that."